


New Recording #38

by egg_murder



Series: Polychronological [2]
Category: Ars Paradoxica (Podcast), Polygon/McElroy Vlogs & Podcasts RPF
Genre: Gen, Implied Time Travel, Memoirs from Dead Friends, Panic Attacks, Post-Rancho, Talks with Zuko the Cat, an Ars PARADOXICA au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-03-08 07:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18890401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egg_murder/pseuds/egg_murder
Summary: The Unraveler was activated by an unknown force, sending Brian back to the future. Another game set up by casualty, forcing Brian to pick up his own pieces and reshuffle the cards handed to him. The end of a universe, it feels, looms over him.





	1. Before Event #70869, SUBJECT TO [REDACTED]

     The days passing by are surprisingly quiet, Brian finds. Since his return to 20█ he has had less work than usual and the government has barely said a word to him. They seem to be sweeping it until the rug, ignoring the fact that Brian was gone in the past. Brian is at least thankful that no press has buzzed around him like hawks. It was somewhat strange for the current era where no stone goes unturned, but it was the only positive of being back. Information spread is the quickest it has ever been, but why has the news of the time-traveling scientist not as important as what the next celebrity ate for breakfast? Brian has yet to find any answers.

     Brian hasn't been adjusting well, he knows that he has been trying to fidget with the Unraveler, desperate to find a way back. His computer skills have decreased and every time he looks at a datapad he blinks and expects it to be just a figment of his imagination. His hands shake when he goes to tell Pat something and he isn't there. The last he heard of Pat was that he was incapacitated, the fear of that day always washes over him. Ramos locked him in his lab and told him to work on the machine, the information of his close friend not to be revealed. His fingers had shaken while he nervously pecked over his smaller prototype. The wires were a scrambled mess and the radiation coming from it should've killed him and at this point Brian felt as if that's how his time should come, working in a lab in the Forties with a lack of radiation protection.

     His mind tries to think of why the prototype worked, why it worked better than the one that made him travel to the past. Why does casualty hate him so much that it upends him whenever he feels comfortable? Why does he never get the chance to say goodbye? Why does he feel so alone when he is finally home? The schedule he had been using for years is null as he no longer gets to work with the team in Rancho. He is alone, left with his lab assistant, Nick, and with so much information intake that he feels whiplash. He doesn't use his datapads anymore, he writes things down more often, and he can't look at the prototype without shaking.

     He shouldn't want to go back, that's what the logical side of him says. Where he was was not a good place for him; lack of information, unaccepting people, a war brewing in Europe, but that's when the emotional side of him pitches in. he wants to go back because he felt safe, he got attached, he fell in love with the people of Rancho. They were quick to embrace him after the clear up, they invited him places and enjoyed his stories and Pat... _Pat_. If he said he didn't think of him often he would be lying, Pat, is always running through his mind every given second: What would Pat say to this dumb celebrity gossip? What would Pat say to the information doled out on the data tablet? Would he like Laura and Jonah? Would he have another idea of why the relativity of his machine decided to fuck him over?

     His brain decides to supply him with these scenarios, seeing Pat give him the confused expression, his smile when he clicks a button and it pulls up a dumb graph from the last tests, his mathematical equations filling up the whiteboard while trying to find a solution. It all stings his heart to see in his head, it rubs him wrong. Pat should be here, Pat deserves to be here.

       Brian knows he should stop himself from looking it up, he types Polygon into the search bar, desperate and hoping for something. There isn't much beyond Geometry descriptions and equations, which leads him to look for members of Polygon. He wracks his brain for the identities of his fellow Rancho members.

     There is one that he has been meaning to look up: Griffin McElroy. After the incident with a bullet and his machine, Griffin's brother ended up dead due to a bullet traveling through a mini-portal and striking Justin as he was speaking to Brian. The loud noise had sent him into a panic attack and he only came to when Pat helped him off the floor and Ramos tried to cuff him. Brian has been able to clear his name but Griffin had not agreed with the outcome of all of it. He took to bringing a gun into the lab and shooting it towards Brian, the bullet disappearing in mid-air as it was sent back to kill his brother. Grant and Ramos kicked him and his brother, Travis, out of Rancho because of their lack of purpose to any of the projects. Brian had hated to see them go, and his guilt for being the reason they were gone is always present in his memories of Rancho.

     He types Griffin's new identity first: Chris Rembrandt. Nothing but fodder, and hopefully a sliver of hope in a small conspiracy forum about a man nicknamed 'Remy' talking about how a bullet he shot at a "queer labby" was sent back in time and killed his oldest brother. To anyone else this small information would be overlooked, it was in the Forties, it could be seen as a tale to scare those away from the sciences. Brian knew better, he had stared down that gun, feeling like his death was imminent. The discussions around this all lead back to the Illuminati and that's when Brian turns off. Rancho and POLYGON had been a government project, but it was a war effort, not Area 51. There were people there who mattered, not suits and aliens. Dylan Mathis aka Travis McElroy yielded nothing, his real name did give something.

      It turns out before the war Travis wrote on some newspaper columns about manners and etiquette. Brian filed all of those away for later, something to read on a restless night. (An odd thing that helps Brian feel comfort is looking up things in the Forties. Clothes, newspapers, books, anything helps him when his mind grows darker.) He moves on to Simone de Rochefort.

     Christine Stanwyck gives him much to go on. Simone did not seem to go on about being a math whiz in her original identity but after the war, she picked up relevance. She went to work towards getting a degree and becoming a professor. The pictures of her when she got older warm Brian's heart. The countless articles about her are lovely, despite the large amounts of scrutiny towards her being a woman. Brian puts her birthday in the calendar, to remind himself of the brilliant woman he once knew. The warmth in his chest goes cold when he sees the final memoir hidden in a website long forgotten, it being on the last google page. It was put up by her descendants, the words scribbled out in her beautiful scrawl.

      The words bring tears to Brian's eyes, his heart clenching as this memoir was directed towards him and all of his past friends at Rancho. Apologies laced with insults for leaving, jokes that get a hollow chuckle out of Brian. His shoulders shake as he starts to weep at the end, unable to scroll any further as the words swirl around his mind. His brain supplies him with her voice, saying those words to his face. He turns from the computer, looking at the wall. The world becomes blurry as his vision is filled with his tears.

     Nick entered the lab a little early, his last college class wrapping up early. He swings his ID into the scanner and walks towards his mentor's laboratory. Brian had returned from his mysterious leave a couple of weeks ago, and Nick couldn't be happier. He finally has something to do besides twiddle his thumbs and gets ahead of his coursework. Nick had been all for being an assistant to Brian David Gilbert because he was a titan in the theoretical physics field. Brian was smart and witty and amazing, his theories were always well-renowned. He would walk into every conference with a confident swagger as he had evidence to back his hypotheses, his knowledge of the subject unrivaled. That was who Brian was before his leave, but the Brian that came back is not the same person.

     The Brian he sees now is different. This Brian acts small, shrivels into himself and shakes whenever something crashes onto the floor. He only fidgets with the small prototype of his machine, the bigger model nowhere to be seen. Brian hasn't said what he had done with it, and Nick is unsure if he should ask. There are a lot more awkward silences now, Brian flinches at any loud noise and every time his machine makes a noise Brian immediately moves towards it.

     He can't ask why Brian is like this, it would rip off a band-aid that would reveal the wound underneath that neither of them wants to see.

     Nick enters the lab and sees Brian, sobbing in his chair.

      It wasn't a new sight, at this point, which is just depressing in itself. Nick carefully walks over, silently putting a hand on Brian's shoulder. Brian flinches, moving to the right as if someone was there to protect him. He ended up stumbling out of the chair, landing on his knees. Nick kneels down next to him, trying to calm him down. It's futile as Brian continues to sob into his hands.

     It seemed to be normal until Brian's breaths shifted, the oxygen going into his lungs quicker than normal. He shifts Brian towards him, letting his friend lean on him while trying to get him to breath slower.

     It seemed to be normal until Brian's breaths shifted, the oxygen going into his lungs quicker than normal. He shifts Brian towards him, letting his friend lean on him while trying to get him to breath slower. Nick tries to whisper comforting things to Brian, but it doesn't seem to work. Brian starts to flip through his pockets as if he just remembered something, Nick wants to oblige his friend. "Ph-ph-phone," Brian croaks out as if it took him a lot of effort to speak. His voice is hoarse, mucus flowing from his nose; his hands shaking. Nick searches the floor, not moving as his eyes roam the lab.

     Brian's phone is on the desk, and Nick shifts, laying Brian against the drawers and reaching up lightly. His hand moves around the desk, moving over papers and pens then finally finding the piece of technology he needed. Nick takes a hold of it, slipping it down towards them. It landed in Nick's lap, which he was glad for; replacing phone screens is a bitch.

     Nick got this far without realizing that he didn't know the reason why Brian wanted his phone, and hopefully getting it out of him will not be a problem. Brian's shaky hand is extended towards the phone, Nick slides it into his hand and shifting Brian onto his own shoulder. He watches Brian open his phone using his thumb, the home screen blinking back at them. It's an image that Nick has never seen before, Brian is surrounded by a group of people and his smile is bright. He feels Brian's breaths slow down a fraction, his thumb finds the voice memos app, clicking onto it. The interface opens and there is a large number of recordings, with a date that makes no sense, they were during his absence.

     Brian scrolls down, passing many, many labeled logs. He stops when he finds the one he wanted, he looks unsure if he should play it. The anxiety of the moment brought him down for a moment, he clicks on it and the recording starts with a voice he wasn't expecting.

          _"Log, uh, I believe One Forty-Eight? I'm unsure if that's right, I'll have to ask Brian later."_

     Brian visibly relaxes, his breathing slows down to a normal rate and the blood returns to his face. Nick isn't sure who the voice is until they say their name, _Patrick Gill_.

 _That makes sense. This makes sense._ That's one thing Nick knew about where Brian went. For a while, Nick felt like it could've been a codename for someone, maybe a place, but he didn't expect for there to be audio proof. Pat continues, speaking in a more haughty tone towards the experiment. The tone turns more 'soft' when he starts to become more comfortable with the presence of the phone, and it's odd, the way Pat speaks.

     It's formal and stuffy, until the end. He feels like he's intruding on a private conversation. He shifts, giving Brian more privacy as he hides his head in his arms. The recording ends and Brian let's out a sigh.

     It's quiet for a moment later, "Thank you, Nick. I'm sorry about all of this. I-I found something that made me have, a-a visceral reaction." Nick nods, "It's okay, Brian." Brian nods back, tapping on the back of his phone with his index finger. They move together awkwardly as they stand, keeping out of each other's space. Brian sets his phone down on the desk, letting Nick start tinkering with another project that they'd worked on before.

     Nick doesn't watch how Brian hesitates to close the tab, forcing himself to, and turning off his monitor. He slips on headphones and lowers himself into his swivel chair. Brian turns on something random, letting whatever starts playing soothe him during this numb period.

      It's been quiet, _way too quiet_ , Pat thinks. The blackroom has been a cruel temptress of fate, watching him fade slowly every day as he atones for his crime. He is unsure of what day it is, and of how long he's been here. The news about Brian hasn't settled in yet. Ramos stared him dead in the eye and told him Brian died because of causation with his machine, handing him the ukulele he bought Brian, and giving him that sick smile before activating the blackroom.

     The updated goods have been his best bet, as he doesn't trust how well the older ones will hold. He finds a computer that seems akin to the smartphone Brian had brought back to life. He opens it, a login screen prompting him to log in. He types in the employee information on the manual, starting up and staring at the desktop. The pre-set background is a beautiful forest view, the trees swaying in the wind. Pat is astounded at the quality of the image, it's so clear he can see the pine needles and separate them in front the rest of the green flora. The small rounded piece next to the keyboard must be the mouse, it's not connected by a wire. He shakes it and sees the pointer shake, he is enthralled by the new technology, laughing at how advanced humanity has come.

      Pat starts to go through some of the applications, testing them out for the endless capabilities they seem to hold. The logging program was the one Pat believes he should use for his new "job". He read through the tutorial, understanding the connection with the messaging program. Pat learns to download files and how to use the conversion program, it's a lot of information to take in and Pat just enjoys it immensely.

     The first set of files comes in a couple of hours later, the messaging app popping up and flashing a notification in his face. He uses the mouse, clicking on the open prompt and sees the folder of files with a small text file of what he needs to do for this specific message. The conversion app comes in handy as Pat works on getting the HTML files and converting them into a zip, including all of the files inside the HTML document. Pat opens the logging program, writing down the file names, the conversions, the date on the computer, and the basic employee information. He finishes the job, putting them together in a message window, typing in the employee number and sending it off. He sits back for a moment, staring at the screen as a cursor blinks at him in the logging program.

     He saves all of his progress and closing all of the programs. The dreary tone of his atmosphere is settling in his bones, and he stares at the ukulele on the desk. His hand shakes as he reaches for it.

     Brian walks out of the lab, waving at Nick, and slinking towards the lobby. He waves at the receptionist and exits the building. It's a cold spring day outside, at least the air should help him clear his mind. He starts towards his apartment, watching for the screens and the pedestrians in the middle of whatever they do on holographic phones.

     The walk is short and cold, so Brian shivers into his lab coat and sweater as he continues. He sees the correct building in front of him, he enters and goes into the elevator. The trip up is quick.

     Brian enters the apartment and listens for Zuko's padding on the floor. The black and white cat pops his head into the hallway, looking for his dad. He smiles at the feline as Zuko inches towards him. When Brian had returned Zuko was wary of him at first, but he's getting better. Zuko reaches Brian, looking at him expectantly, and Brian chuckles. He reaches down and lets Zuko smell him, and then moving his hand to scratch his chin. Zuko purrs into his hand, enjoying the comfort of his dad's presence. A small smile works its way onto Brian's face, and he shifts down towards the floor. He picks up Zuko, holding his baby in his arms. Zuko doesn't struggle, which is odd but not totally out of character for the cat. They start towards the couch, landing on it with a soft thump.

     Brian stares at the wall on the other side of the apartment, the dining room table a blur to his mind. They sit there for an undetermined amount of time, and it's silent until Brian speaks, "Hey Zuko, can I tell you about Polygon?"

     The cat doesn't answer, but Brian takes it as a sign to continue. "Polygon is, **was** a program where I went. It was trying to use any method to win the war. The last project before I came in was a qualitative algorithm created by the Gill and de Rochefort team. It was really impressive. The man behind the equation was Pat, uh, Patrick Gill," Brian starts to pet Zuko, "He was-" Brian let's out a pitiful laugh. "He believed I came in and tried to destroy their projects because of the machine I built. I didn't mean for any of it to happen, seriously. He spread all of these rumors about me," Brian tries to wipe away a tear but ends up being met with more. "And once I was able to explain the situation he stopped and we-we became friends. I, I miss him."

     "He was cool, and I just left him." Brian is silent for a moment, "I didn't even get to say goodbye." His stare moves toward the ceiling, looking at the pristine beige paint. "He-I- _fuck_." Brian holds Zuko close, "I'm sorry," He whispers.

     Zuko stays still on his chest as he cries, it's uneven and depressing. "When I was gone, I, uh," Brian shudders. Rain starts to pour down outside, the droplets hitting the window and creating background noise. Zuko meows and licks his paw, continuing to sit on Brian's chest. Brian's breathing shifts as the rain starts to come down harder, tapping on the fire escape. "Today I found a message from Simone, and it, it sent me to a bad place. I know I did it to myself because I intentionally sought out any evidence of their existence, but I don't know. Maybe deep down I just hoped to find something to prove I wasn't crazy. The good news is that I'm not, but it threw me in that kind of awful spiral that comes with the territory of being completely helpless to prevent problems for others."

     Laura comes home to Brian asleep on the couch while Zuko perks up and looking at her. "Hey bud," She whispers, quietly stepping towards the couch. Zuko shimmies out of Brian's arms and climbs over the couch towards her. He sits on the armrest and waits for her to pet him, she does. He meows and gets off the couch, walking towards the kitchen.

      Laura sighs, placing her bag on the floor and walking towards Brian. She removes his glasses, brushing some of his hair off his forehead, and slinking the throw blanket on his form. Brian's glasses are placed on the coffee table and Laura ghosts a kiss on the top of his head.

     It's silent the rest of the event, as the rain patters out of existence after a half an hour. Laura sets herself to making some dinner while waiting for Jonah to return as well. She continues to glance in the direction of Brian, watching over him carefully. He looks peaceful, she observes, and it helps put her at ease. Zuko sits on the dining room table, watching Laura move around the kitchen. His tail swishes back and forth with ease.


	2. After Event #70869, SUBJECT TO [REDACTED]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word gets around, encryption was broken. Friends watch as the world crumbles, and they need to start again. The end is near, for those we care for.

     Jonah and Laura look at the news, speechless. They wearily look towards the stairs, unsure if Brian has seen the news yet. Laura sighs, moving to grab the remote and she holds it in her hand.

     "Laura," Jonah starts, "I know," Laura interrupts.

     They leave the news playing and attempt to return to the normalcy that they had moments before. Laura sits back down on the couch and Jonah moves back towards the kitchen. It's awkward, the waiting. When they here the tell-tale signs that Brian will be joining them in the living room the news suddenly felt too real. Her brother pads down the stairs, yawning as a greeting and moving towards the Keurig. Jonah and Laura share a glance across the room, waiting for Brian to realize that something is wrong. He doesn't, continuing his daily routine and walking towards the couch. Brian plops down, sinking into the black cushions, and melting into his coffee mug.

     After a couple of sips of his overly-sweetened coffee, Brian's brain takes in the information on the TV. He immediately looks awake, staring at the television with a determined look, and taking in all of the information. Laura looks again at Jonah, unsure if either of them should say a word as the world seems to be crumbling.

      He races off quickly, leaving his mug on the coffee table and stomping back up the stairs.

     Nick gets a message from Laura telling him Brian won't be in the lab, he surmises that it was just a personal problem and that Brian most likely deserves the break.

     He sits in his car in the terrible traffic, listening to the random NPR article, barely taking in the information. His current situation forces him to at some point and his brain tunes in the voice towards the end of a sentence, "--ill has not been found, while the files on the apparent casualty have been fully redacted, in later reports the full context has been given. It can be said that the reason for the murder was unjustifiable, and some of the validity of the paperwork is currently suspicious. The current CEO of Vox Media, Jim Bankoff, made a short statement that the information that is currently being leaked was something that the current board directors were unaware of and that any questions asked of them will receive no comment." Nick snickers, changing the channel to something else. The bit-crushed music works as the background noise for the currently busy atmosphere.

     He arrives on campus somewhat on time, rushing towards his lecture hall, and sitting down in his usual seat. Nick pulls out his notebook and pens and pulling out his phone. The daily scroll through his twitter is completely overshadowed with a news story that came out today, he mainly ignores it and continues until something makes him stop. The name he didn't expect was plastered in a headline, including some unsavory words. The world feels frozen around him, the clatter of the other students slowly fades away as he realizes that this is real. This isn't some joke concocted by Brian, this is a factual story, backed up by redacted papers and the recordings of what went down.

     Nick's momentary distress is interrupted by the professor, who sits down on the edge of the desk and kickstarts the class. It's hard to pay attention, with the news weighing heavily on his mind. He opts out of paying attention, by starting a recording on his phone and staring at the board.

     Brian is holed up in his room the rest of the day, continually typing and researching on the current Vox locations, the personnel and whatever else he can get his hands on. The old servers can only be accessed with an emulator, which was hard enough to figure out in the first place. He types in the basic code implement that he was told to use for accessing any sort of research and resource files. The thing that surprises him is when he sees the multiple updates to the system since his departure with the 1940s. Messages spread from servers that are currently defunct, which seemed to be very active recently. Brian skims through them, eyes catching the sender of the messages. Hope blooms in his chest like a carnation, white and beautiful, a symbol of good luck.

     He hastily prints out everything, working on pinning them together onto a corkboard. The endless news articles, that have filled up the empty pages that used to hold little no information of Patrick Gill, are all Brian can see. He is desperate for any information and stares and soaks up all of the pieces that came along with the articles. The redacted information is something he should know, and he wants to look over the fact that Pat killed someone. On the day Brian left, Pat became a killer. There is a small part of him that begs to him that there must be a logical reason for this, that Pat wouldn't result in that unless he _had_ to. Pat can't be a killer, he--he _can't_ be.

     The other parts of him chug on and ignore the fact that their director was killed by his best friend, the fact that his best friend ended a man's life. He continues to search, hoping that maybe he can find out where they are keeping Pat. Brian has an aching suspicion of where Pat could be, and it only tightens the vise grip on his heart.

     Laura enters Brian's room with a sandwich around noon, hoping to get her brother to function normally. Her eyes are drawn to the board of papers currently pinned together with scrambled notes on sticky notes added. Brian sits at his desk, staring at the satellite image of a building, and he mumbles to himself. "Hey Bri," he looks up at her words, "I have a sandwich?" Brian's eyes widen for a moment as if he was unaware that time has passed since he started working. He nods, taking the plate from her and sitting back down in his chair. Laura steps closer, looking over the pages and pages of printouts.

      Pat was unsure of why it was so silent, the usual steady flow of jobs and messages stopped.

      He hits the keys at random while waiting for another message, anything. He tries again to access the internet, but the connection doesn't work. This must mean his use has ceased, maybe they'll come in soon to remove him, to drag him out kicking and screaming. It's been years and that time to reflect isn't going to waste, he needs to get out a message. Maybe there is still hope to reach Brian's sister. He could tell her that her brother was valiant and brave, and will always take hold of a giant piece of his heart. Pat loved Brian like a brother, and it will be that way until they drag him out and shoot him.

     He types and types a message to send to a random employee number from the compiled list he made. It's blind hope that keeps him going as he formats the file and sending it off. Once the file is sent, he leans back in his chair, waiting. A notification pops up while an anomaly happens, the light starts to fade in from the perceived floor. He stands, hoping for anything.

     It is a couple more hours before Brian exits his room, a strange determined look in his eye.

     Brian points out the location on his map, "He has to be here." Laura looks at him, concerned, "Bri, are you sure?" He nods, "Yeah, I am."

     Laura and Jonah share a look, a silent conversation between the lines. They won't be able to stop him, they've assumed at this point. Laura sighs, "Brian," he looks at her, "Stay safe." Brian nods, hugging Laura tightly. He quickly hugs Jonah and races back upstairs. Jonah shifts towards Laura, he holds his hand out to her and she takes it, squeezing tightly. Brian returns down the stairs with some of his papers in hand and a duffle bag of clothes and supplies. He gives them both a hug before pecking Zuko on the head, and he walks out the front door. "He better know what he is doing," Laura states, wrapping her other arm around her torso. Jonah nods in agreement and pulls Laura into a hug.

     Brian rushes towards Penn Station, hopping along the sidewalks. He reaches the ginormous building and enters the front door, checking the trains going down the east coast. The wait is unbearable as the time on his watch changes, as the more time he has before he gets there means that Vox could be flushing out Pat (if he even is alive) while he is sitting on the damn Amtrak. His train is announced on the overhead system, he rushes towards the terminal and gets ushered into the bustling crowd. They reach the train and Brian is able to snag a seat in the sleeper car. He puts his bag on the overhead and sits in the window seat, staring at the surrounding architecture as he awaits the departure.

     Once the express train starts up, Brian is hoping for no delays. He begs any deity that he has ever heard the name of that nothing goes wrong on this trip down.

      Brian anxiously fidgets as the train continues towards his destination, Washington Union Station is about the next stop. He scrambles to get his duffle down and walks towards the front of the car, leaning against one of the bathroom doors as other passengers join him in waiting for the stop. The first person off the train is Brian, as he hustles towards the exit.

      When he reaches the parking lot, Brian pulls out his phone and searches for any news updates. The loading circle is torturous as he waits, but he found that no new information has been uploaded. He knows Vox is most likely freaking out, and that means the destruction of assets. His fingers type out a message to the roommate group chat, telling them of his safe arrival.

     He fervently types the address into his phone, and it isn't the best distance to walk. An Uber is called, so Brian sits on the curb and waits.

     Laura shakes as she types on her computer; she can't hide her anxiety. Jonah sits next to her on the couch and slowly petting Zuko. The tension in the air is thick and suffocating.

     "Do you think he'll make it?" Laura asks, turning her gaze to Jonah. Jonah does a half shrug, "I don't know, but I hope to any god that's listening that he does." She nods, her sad eyes turning back to her screen. "Why did we let him go?" Jonah shrugs. A second later, both of their phones buzz.

     In the uber Brian checks his phone incessantly, checking for anything.

     The ride is short and Brian pays the man as he exits. The giant building in front of him is looming: giant as a golem, but as pristine as a whistle. He steps past the entrance gate and continues down the driveway. It's odd; the silence. Where cars are usually lined up is empty and the lights still active from a late night. Brian raises an eyebrow as he walks forwards, but continuing on as if nothing is wrong.

     Chairs and papers are strewn around the lobby, almost like a wasteland of its own.

     Brian continues, inching into the building. He slips his bag next to the entrance before he continues. The monitors are off and pushed over. The amenities are shut off while the only sign of life is the food sitting on the desk, half-finished. The accompanying flickering lights are not as helpful as one would think. He continues towards the elevators, hoping to find anything. He slowly checks every floor of the building, finding endless redacted out papers and bags of shredded files. The computers are dark, they had been shut down with all post-it notes scribbled out. Brian is able to snag a paper that had been in the process of shredding as someone must've been ushered out of the building. The top of the paper seems relevant to something; it's print outs that Brian had found on one of the really old servers from the Forties. He hopes that some of the papers will include information on where Pat is being stored, but to his luck, the location was whited out.

     The good thing is that if he is able to reverse engineer his way into login and double-check that the servers are still able to function, he could figure out where they placed his best friend. He finds the floors' server room and does a quick google search on how to kickstart a server room. Brian has a dumbed-down version from a tech website that is surprisingly still up. He finds the right wires and the right switches and starts up the towers. The cooldown system starts up as the fans whir up a storm. Not every server light comes on, but some do. Brian rushes back into the office and finds one of the computers that didn't have a post-it note. His logic at the moment is that the ones without post-its most likely have it written in some sort of cardholder. It was a thing his dad did once upon a time.

     He opens the desk and finds a business cardholder. His luck turns positive as he finds the login for a one Nicole Steward. Brian types the login information in quickly and then waiting for the computer to boot up. It takes a bit since there wasn't wifi it needed to connect to the but the personal ethernet system takes a bit to boot up after it's short shut down.

     Most of the files were gone on the computer, most likely put in encryption and sent off.

     He does find some thickly redacted files that seemed to resemble some of the messages from the old server. The good thing is he finds coordinates linked to some of the messages, the bad thing, though: the coordinates change each time. Brian curses, pushing himself back in the chair. He takes a photo of each of them anyway to use later if he needs. He logs out and turns off the server towers. He continues to do so on almost every floor. The lab floors were some of the more interesting as research papers were strewn about the floors.

     He had picked them and read them through. They included some things that Brian felt the need to forget. He tossed the papers back down in a pile. They flew in separate directions, scattering onto the floor.

     Most of the last of the floors are filled with shredded papers and knocked over office equipment. He scoffs and tries to continue further. The basements are becoming a viable option, so he heads towards them and hopes that he doesn't need a key to get down. Luck decides to kiss him straight in the face because the basement levels were left unlocked. He rides down, fidgetting with a long-forgotten pen that he had picked up on one of the upper levels.

     The first basement is on emergency lights and a lack of machinery. The storage rooms he stumbles upon don't house much besides a lot of paperwork. A lot of them are personnel files, which included incident reports. The fact that so many of these are left untouched makes Brian feel _uneasy_ like they were expecting him to come and try to find Pat. He searches frantically instead of the paperwork that was released this morning. The manilla folder is tucked into a messy drawer hidden in the back of the room. Brian's phone is being used as a flashlight as he reads through the full file, the notes from Ramos and the rest of the team. A personal note from Ramos breaks Brian's heart.

    He closes the file and decides to venture down to the second basement subfloor. The elevator ride is still way too quiet, but he continues. It's even worse down there, but the whole entire level is covered in machinery, but none that Brian recognized. It's mostly maintenance, which he realizes when he saw an overturned generator. He rides back up to the lobby, with the fear settling under his skin. He doesn't want to believe this, to believe that Pat is gone and can't be saved. Anger bubbles up in his stomach as he enters the lobby, and before he can think he kicks a chair across the lobby. It hits the glass and bounces back into the sitting area. Brian huffs out a shaky breath and stumbles towards the front door. The duffle bag sits heavier on his shoulder

     Fresh air is what Brian didn't realize he needed at the moment, so when he opened up the door to outside he felt the cool air bring him back to reality. He walks up to the driveway until his legs decide to make like jello, and leave him kneeling on the road. Brian shifts onto the grass and stares at the sky.

     It's a while before Brian realizes that the main building isn’t the only one the property. There is a sizeable warehouse in the back of the plot, and Brian sighs a breath of relief. It's the type of thing that a morally-gray company would do, and it makes Brian laugh at the predictability it all. His trudge to the building is filled with heavy pants and the kick of his duffel bag on the grass. He reaches the doors and hears the telltale whir from behind the door. A smile works its way on his face in hopes that it's what he is looking for.

     The door shrieks as he slides it open and there it is. A machine that Brian immediately recognizes continues to work on keeping the circled off area clean. He walks towards the giant piece of machinery and hoping to Sonic that he will be able to turn it off.

     Pat sees a smiling face and he knows that it's all over.

     It turns out the new team didn't change much about the override codes, which is a relief. He types out the shutdown sequence and taking a short moment to breathe before hitting the button.

     The machine's whirs slow down as the top of the circle starts to dissolve. There are stacks of supplies slowly coming into view and Brian braces for anything to happen.

     Pat stares at the place his supposed dead friend is standing.

     Brian smiles, "Hey Pat, long time no see." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this took longer than it needed to take, but I didn't get a comp for a while, so I couldn't exactly write. A bit underwhelming, I know. Don't worry, I'm going to add something else. Y'all know the drill:
> 
> [ Event#70869 - Incident Report + Interview. ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/14cKsoHcwY0doO2FpFwOfGyfzmizZRB90/view?usp=sharing)  
> [ Project #06375 - Azira 911413: Day #051](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CsexvEG-GiGMZq21mgwEzP2CnTPWjMov/view?usp=sharing)  
> [ Typed: P#06375-AZ911413 051 ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l4ShLF2i5vj4IUdrNW4kC7aaA5gBC2yPTIMjEV3_5PA/edit?usp=sharing)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! It means so much to me! (Once again, please don't show this to BDG or Mischa Stanton.) [ My original twitter thread with all my ideas.](https://twitter.com/firebranddad/status/1086515261501517824?s=21) [ Audiolog #3812151945, Evidence "New Recording #38".](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rb-ehiMfjHlNuGS9FVA2HIhXwrG76Puw/view?usp=sharing) [ A half-written memoir by Simone de Rochefort.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sb2TUUCuSai0lo78drNvA0BGRsT1OSbJ/view?usp=sharing)


End file.
